June 25, 2001

Miyanomori Junior High - grades 7,8,9

Japanese Garden outside of school

Japanese Garden

Sitting areas in garden

Garden is used by all in the neighborhood

View of the side of the school and parking area

Baseball/Soccer field at school

Notice the angle...the kids walk this every day

Tennis courts on school ground

The school grounds also contains a greenhouse and potato plot in which veggies and flowers are grown for science class and clubs, such as the garden club. They have a full length soccer field which also doubles as the baseball field and clay tennis courts. Students who participate in these “clubs” are also required to rake and maintain the fields and areas before they leave for the day.

Potato garden grown at school

Water channel for garden

Inside of the school building

The hallways of the school are painted in a very neutral color, and there are few decorations.  This does change, however, when conferences, pta meetings, or festivals take place.  The above picture is the cleaning area where students wash their hands, face, and assist with the cleaning of the school – yes you heard me right!  There is a 20 minute period at the end of each day where the students are required to clean the entire school, including bathrooms.  They wash desks, gather trash, clean toilets, sweep floors….the whole thing.  Refusing to do so is not an option, because they are taught this from kindergarten on.  Students also assist in serving lunch in the classrooms each day – from serving the food to scraping the plates.  The school does have janitors on staff, but they are primarily there as mechanical janitors rather than cleaning janitors.  They do gather the trash bags from the rooms and dispose of them, as well as clean the faculty bathrooms and kitchen area.

Hallway area

Student art on display in school

Ok, wanted to add what happened on the first day of class today and my impressions of the school.... may be busy for a few days!

I was picked up by Yoshi and driven to the school. There was a short meeting with the staff in which I was introduced by the building principal...and I presented them with a Mandela and a copy of our yearbook, and a few bits of chocolate (which was devoured in a couple of hours!). I attended the 4 classes Yoshi teaches of English to 8th graders. They were very shy at first but after I picked a student to teach the two-step to, they perked up a bit! In between classes, they came up to me and said, `my name is...very nice to meet you` and shook my hand, then giggled. The kids seem very pleased to have someone from the USA here, and I’m sure will ask a lot of questions later on. At the end of the day, they have @ 20 minutes of cleaning time, where the students are responsible for cleaning classrooms, chalkboards, bathrooms, hallways, desks, etc. A great way to teach pride in your school and appreciation for what you have! The school was spotless when I arrived, and spotless at the end of the day! Even the bathrooms.... no small feat for eastern style toilets (I must get a picture for you all!). Thank goodness there is a western style also!

Teachers work area 

In the Japanese system, the students, in all grades, stay in a homeroom while the teachers move from room to room.  As much of the staff as possible stays in one room, allowing comradeship to be strong among the staff, exchange of ideas among subjects, sharing of information about a student, etc.  The student of the day comes into the office area early each morning, gets the assignments from each teacher who is scheduled to teach that day, and writes them on the board in the room.  The staff then has a 20 minute staff meeting each morning where each teacher informs the others what is special items is scheduled for the day, practice schedules, etc., then each grade has about 7 minutes to share among themselves.  At the end of the staffing, the homeroom teachers go to the homerooms and share any important information with the students.  Homeroom teachers also eat lunch with their students in the classroom, while the other teachers eat in the teacher’s room.

7th grade calligraphy class

Calligraphy, or Shodo, is still taught in schools, even in high school (although it is an elective then).  Science classes in Japan are very intense and very well funded.  The lab reminded me of my college lab classes…everything was available or could be obtained.  Students have lab time then lecture time also.  This lab is used by all grades and also cleaned by the students at the end of the class period.

7th grade class

Students working together on a project

Science class and classroom

8th grade classroom

9th grade Algebra class

The top two pictures are of the 8th grade, one in social studies and one in integrated curriculum, which is a class where they try to find connections of all they have studied during that period of time and make a relationship chart.  In other words, if they have been studying about WW2, they would relate history, science (how planes were designed for long distance travel), math (distance to islands from Japan), English/Japanese (usually literature or writers famous during that period), home ec (uniform designs and food), art (either painting, fabric, etc. designs during that period), etc.

The bottom classes are 9th grade art and math classes.  The fine arts such as painting and music are emphasized greatly and everyone participates.  Some are very good, some are not, but no one is exempt from trying.  I enjoyed listening the the guys sing….not something that happens in the states very often!

Art class

Cooperative learning

9th grade English (level 3) with Yoshi

Eastern style toilet

After school, their clubs, or sports and activities teams, have their practices. I attended the basketball practice (did you doubt it?) for about an hour, and they were still going hard and strong...couple of pretty good girl players also! At 6pm, there was a PTA meeting in which a box dinner was served.... once again, some fish, beans, a form of a potato, rice, and a piece of boiled shrimp and chicken. We watched a video of the kids going to a local art park then writing poetry or sketching. I’ve asked to bring a copy of it home with me...shows kids are the same no matter where they are from!

PTA officers and I at dinner

The first day of school was interesting.  My first reaction to the school was how clean it appeared.  Later, I was shocked and impressed to learn how the students maintain the school.  I was introduced to the staff by the principal, Mr. Toshiaki Omura, and presented them with a copy of our school yearbook and a Cherokee Mandela.   I then joined Yoshi for her English classes, where I related where I was from, a little Oklahoma history, some information about my family, and even taught them a little Oklahoma two-step.  Students seemed shy at first but after each class, as I was walking down the hallway, I had them come to me for “Hello, my name is _____.  It’s nice to meet you!”, then turn away giggling.  This continued all day long.  At the end of the school day, I attended basketball practice for about an hour (the girl’s seemed impressed that I could make a basket!) then joined Grade 1 (7^th grade) teachers in a PTA meeting.  This gave me an opportunity to meet several parents and share information about US schools.

So, my day began at 7:30 when I was picked up, and ended at 8:15 tonight when I was dropped off. Mrs. Yamada was going to walk up and then walk with me to the subway and bus, but after such a long day, she decided driving was better. Tomorrow, I will go to a 6th grade English class, then they have a citywide teacher meeting. I can go to the art museum and see the Egyptian exhibit, go shopping, or come back to the Guest House...may do a little of all three!